FRIDAY, 17 AUGUST - Prof. Dr Chua Tock Hing and his research team of Department of Pathobiology and Medical Diagnostics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia will publish in the next issue of PlosOne, a paper entitled, ”Mitochondrial variation in subpopulations of Anopheles balabacensis Baisas in Sabah, Malaysia (Diptera: Culicidae)”.

The coauthors are Benny Manin (Ph.D student at UMS) and Prof. Chris Drakeley (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).

This paper is based on the research done for the past five years on the primary vector (Anopheles balabacensis) of the monkey malaria (caused by Plasmodium knowlesi), in Sabah which has recorded the highest incidence of monkey malaria in the world with most of the cases occurring in the interior areas.

A survey conducted in Kudat and Kota Marudu districts also showed that 9.8% of the collected blood samples were positive for Plasmodium knowlesi with most of the infected individuals not having a history of fever.

There are strong linkages between landscape change, disease ecology and human health which help to explain the emergence of the monkey malaria.

These anthropogenic changes to the landscape in Sabah are influencing the dynamics between mosquito vectors, macaques, and humans.

Other results also suggest that Plasmodium knowlesi is adapting to the changes in the distribution and vectorial capacity of its vectors in Malaysian Borneo.

This mosquito feeds on both macaque monkeys as well as humans, preferring to bite humans outdoors and during the early evening.

It is the dominant Anopheles species found in Kudat Division where it is responsible for all the cases of Plasmodium knowlesi.

However, there is limited basic biological and ecological information on this vector.

Prof Chua and his team sequenced 71 Anopheles balabacensis individuals collected from 14 sites of seven districts in Sabah, constituting 14 subpopulations.

The cox1, cox2 genes of the mitochondria were sequenced and analysed to investigate the genetic relationship between the specimens from the various sites.

A total of 17 and 10 haplotypes (a haplotype is a group of genes within an organism that is inherited together from a single parent) were detected in the subpopulations using the cox1, cox2 sequences respectively.

Some of the haplotypes were common among the subpopulations resulting from high gene flow occurring between them, and the variation detected between subpopulations was not due to the geographical distance between them.

Further analysis showed that Anopheles balabacensis in Sabah is experiencing population expansion and growth.

More importantly the high gene flow between populations could help to spread insecticide resistance which may hamper vector control effort.

KHAMIS, 16 OGOS - Seramai 25 pelajar Wuyi University China kini mengikuti kursus profesional "Artificial Intelligence (Fuzzy Logic) Optimization Engineering" di Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

Kursus kejuruteraan selama 16 hari itu dikendalikan oleh Fakulti Kejuruteraan (FKJ) UMS.

Menurut Timbalan Dekan (Akademik dan Antarabangsa) FKJ, Ismail Saad, adalah menjadi suatu kebanggaan untuk menganjurkan kursus yang disertai oleh pelajar dari luar negara.

“Ia merupakan hasil hubungan baik kerjasama yang telah terjalin antara UMS dan Wuyi University sekali gus menjadi medan perkongsian ilmu untuk manfaat kedua-dua universiti.

“Kita mengharapkan agar lebih banyak program-program seperti ini pada masa-masa akan datang termasuk kerjasama dalam bidang penyelidikan dan pengajian peringkat pascasiswazah,” katanya.

Ismail berucap berkata demikian dalam satu majlis di FKJ bagi mengalu-alukan kehadiran kesemua pelajar universiti berkenaan.

Kursus yang diadakan sehingga 24 Ogos itu turut memberi ruang kepada para pelajar Wuyi University untuk mengenali negeri Sabah dengan lebih dekat melalui beberapa lawatan ke destinasi menarik yang terdapat di negeri ini.

Hadir sama pada program itu Pengarah Pusat Pengantarabangsaan dan Penglibatan Global UMS, Prof. Dr. Ho Chong Mun.

THURSDAY, 16 AUGUST - A delegation from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Datuk Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin recently visited Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences (HAS) in Harbin, China.

Discussion were held with Prof. Guo Chunjing, President of HAS, and other senior officials of the academy, as well as with key researchers from Institute of Microbiology, a comprehensive research institute under HAS.

Academic and research collaboration between UMS and HAS have been established since 2012, and both institution are strongly committed to further enhance this collaboration for the next five years.

Among the focus areas are research and cultivation of edible mushrooms, research on soil and crop improvement using microbes and organic amendments, research on functional food, and student and staff mobility.

A new initiative to be pursued in this collaboration is smart partnership with the industries.

Among the delegation from UMS during this visit is Datuk Yap Yun Fook who is an adjunct professor of UMS as well as a prominent agriculture entrepreneur in Sabah.

RABU, 15 OGOS – Jabatan Bendahari Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) dengan kerjasama Bahagian Sumber Manusia, Jabatan Pendaftar UMS telah mengadakan Kursus Lanjutan ‘Malaysian Public Sector Accounting Standard’ (MPSAS) sebagai usaha memperkukuhkan lagi pemahaman terhadap MPSAS yang merupakan piawaian perakaunan untuk entiti perakaunan sektor awam di Malaysia.

Bendahari UMS, Zallifah Shadan berkata, kursus ini merupakan lanjutan kepada kursus pengenalan MPSAS yang telah diadakan di UMS pada Julai tahun lalu.

“Selain daripada kakitangan UMS, kursus pada kali ini juga mendapat penyertaan daripada beberapa universiti awam dan agensi kerajaan antaranya Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Lembaga Pelancongan Sabah, Lembaga Kemajuan Perhutanan Negeri Sabah, Lembaga Kebudayaan Negeri Sabah, Lembaga Sukan Sabah, Lembaga Pembangunan dan Perumahan Bandar, serta Dewan Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu.

“Kita berasa amat bertuah kerana kursus ini dikendalikan oleh Ramesh Ruben Louis, seorang perancang kewangan bertauliah yang berpengalaman luas dalam mengendalikan kursus dan latihan perakaunan, pengauditan serta pengurusan risiko dengan pelbagai syarikat atau agensi kerajaan dalam pelbagai industri seperti perladangan, pembangunan hartanah, perkapalan, perdagangan, teknologi maklumat dan sebagainya," katanya ketika menyampaikan ucapan alu-aluan sempena program tersebut di Grand Borneo Hotel, 1Borneo kelmarin.

Justeru katanya, diharapkan kursus ini dapat membantu para peserta untuk lebih memahami tentang pemakaian MPSAS sebagai rangka kerja pelaporan kewangan serta mengaplikasikan ilmu pengetahuan yang dipelajari di organisasi masing-masing.

Kursus yang dihadiri lebih 100 peserta itu antara lain bertujuan untuk membantu peserta mengenal pasti impak pelaksanaan MPSAS dalam operasi kewangan harian serta membantu dalam penyediaan penyata kewangan yang mematuhi MPSAS di organisasi masing-masing.

Kursus tersebut yang berlangsung selama tiga hari membincangkan tentang perakaunan untuk aset, perakaunan untuk belanja dan liabiliti, perakaunan untuk instrumen kewangan, perakaunan untuk hasil dan pelaporan penyata kewangan.